Sportsman{40 s saw

ABSTRACT

A unique sportsman&#39;&#39;s saw includes a blade having one edge carrying coarse saw teeth and a second edge carrying fine saw teeth. The sawblade is attached to a handle which is adapted to be held in the hand when the sportsman&#39;&#39;s saw is used as a saw. The handle is further fashioned to serve as a hammer head when the blade of the saw, preferably housed in a scabbard, is held in the hand.

United States Patent 91 Saunders [451 Sept. 24, 1974 l SPORTSMAN 'S SAW [76] Inventor: Martin R. Saunders, Box 1105,

Elko, Nev. 89801 [22] Filed: Mar. 13, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 340,754

[52] US. Cl. 7/8.1 R, 7/13 R, 30/144, 30/151,145/31 A, 145/31 AB, 145/35 D,

[51] Int. Cl B25f U00 8] Field of Search 7/1 B, 1 F, 8, 8.1 R, 13 R;

145/31 R, 31 AB, 31 AC, 35 R, 35 D, 61 J; 30/144,151, 164,123 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 292,369 l/l884 Schluchtner 145/35 D 457,376 8/1891 Sherman 757,740 4/1904 l-lappe 912,411 2/1909 Putney 942,920 12/1909 1,176,192 3/1916 2,105,239 1/l938 3,473,712 10/1969 Genchi 7/8.l R D140,397 2/1945 Waterman 30/144 X Dl54,482 7/1949 Hill 7/1 B X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 971,708 8/1950 France 145/35 D 31,225 2/1961 Finland 145/31 R 839,117 6/1960 Great Britain 7/11 R 510,151 7/1939 Great Britain 30/151 Primary Examiner-A1 Lawrence Smith Assistant ExaminerJ. T. Zatarga Attorney, Agent, or FirmFleit, Gipple & Jacobson [5 7] ABSTRACT A unique sportsmans saw includes a blade having one edge carrying coarse saw teeth and a second edge carrying fine saw teeth. The sawblade is attached to a handle which is adapted to be held in the hand when the Sportsmans saw is used as a saw. The handle is further fashioned to serve as a hammer head when the blade of the saw, preferably housed in a Scabbard, is held in the hand.

9 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTED 35924 3 8 37, O 24 sum 1 or 2 PATENIEDSEPZMBM SHEET 2 [IF 2 SPORTSMANS SAW BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a combination saw and hammer especially adapted for use by the sportsman.

Hunting, fishing and camping are growing leisure time activities. When the hunter, fisherman, or camper travels in remote areas, he must carry the equipment he needs to survive with him. Such things as a knife, saw, hammer and preferably a water-tight compartment for holding matches, maps and so forth are usually indispensible to those staying in remote areas. These implements, as the experienced hunter, fisherman or camper knows, can weigh a great deal and can therefore be very burdensome if carried long distances.

In order to reduce this load a number of implements combining more than one function have been proposed in the prior art. Unfortunately, none of these implements has been ideally suited for the hunter, fisherman or camper, and accordingly, none of these instruments enjoys wide commercial acceptance.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a unique combination implement ideally suited for use by a sportsman travelling and camping in remote areas.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a unique combined implement which can be used as a saw, hammer, knife, and a waterproof container.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a multipurpose implement which is simple and inexpensive to make yet rugged in construction so that it will last a long time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These and other objects are accomplished in accordance with the present invention which provides a unique sportsmans saw, including a tapered blade and a handle attached thereto. The handle is so designed that the portion of the handle normally held in the user's palm is hollow. In addition, the handle further includes a steel insert capping one end of the hollow portion of the handle and a slotted screw plug capping the other end of the hollow portion. The steel insert is permanently affixed to the handle and forms a hammer face so that the inventive sportsmans saw can be used as a hammer. The slotted screw plug on the opposite end of the handle is removable so that access can be made to the hollow cavity in the handle. The hollow cavity in combination with the screw plug therefore serves as a water-tight compartment for holding such things as matches, maps, and the like.

Attached to the handle is a tapered blade having saw teeth on each of its opposing tapering edges. On one edge, the teeth are coarse, preferably six teeth to the inch, and on the other edge, the teeth are fine, preferably 11 teeth to the inch. The edge carrying the coarse teeth is designed for sawing wood and will cut, for example, a 6 inch log very rapidly. The edge carrying the fine teeth is designed primarily for sawing cartilage and bones and facilitates the quartering of a recently killed animal.

The edges of the blade merge to a tip on theend of the saw blade opposite the handle. The fine teeth on the fine saw edge of the blade extend from the handle to a point about I inches from the blade tip, and the remaining 1 /2 inches of the blade on the fine saw edge are sharpened to form a fine cutting edge. This fine cutting edge is preferably convexly curved which serves to facilitate skinning a recently killed animal.

The unique sportsmans saw is preferably used in combination with a scabbard in which the blade of the sportsmans saw can be held. The scabbard covers the full length of the blade and includes a safety strap for keeping the sportsmans saw secure in the scabbard. The back of the scabbard is optionally provided with a slotted belt loop so that the complete sportsmans saw/- scabbard unit can be carried on the belt of the user.

The inventive sportsmans saw can be used as a rough or fine saw in the same way that conventional saws are used. In addition, the inventive sportsmans saw can be used as a knife to skin and quarter animals by simply holding it in the hand in the same way as when used as a saw and moving it so that the sharpened cutting edge portion of the blade engages the material to be cut. Moreover, the inventive sportsmans saw can be used as a hammer by grasping the blade of the hammer with a protective means, such as a handkerchief or preferably the scabbard, around the saw teeth and hitting the object to be hammered with the flat plug fixed in the end of the handle. Finally, the unique sportsmans saw can be used as a container for matches, maps, and the like by simply unscrewing the plug in the end of the handle and inserting the map or matches in the hollow portion of the handle and thereafter rescrewing the plug in its opening.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention may be better understood by reference to the following drawings wherein:

FIG. I is a plan view of the inventive sportsmans saw provided by the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective side view of the sportsmans saw shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the inventive sportsmansaw when housed in an associated scabbard.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the unique sportsmans saw provided by this invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the inventive sportsmans saw generally indicated at 10 includes a blade 12 having a fine saw edge 14 and a coarse saw edge 16. The coarse saw edge 16 includes a plurality of coarse saw teeth which extend all the way from the top of the coarse saw edge to its bottom. Fine saw edge 14 includes a plurality of fine saw teeth which extend all the way from the top of the edge down to a point I8 near the tip 20 of the saw blade. As shown in FIG. 1, the portion of the saw blade extending between point 18 and tip 20 is sharpened to form a cutting edge 22, which is convex in shape for a purpose to be described hereinafter.

In a particular embodiment of the inventive sportsmans saw, blade 12 is about 12 inches long and about 0.038 inches thick. Coarse saw edge 16 is provided with six teeth per inch, each tooth set to the cutting edge with an 88 hook. Fine saw edge is provided with l l teeth per inch, each tooth set with a 90 pitch to the cutting edge with an 88 hook. Cutting edge 22 located between point 18 on fine saw edge 14 and tip 20 is about l k inches long.

Attached to sawblade 12 by meansof rivets 24 is a handle 26 made from metal or other hard material.

Handle 26 takes the form of a planar extension member 28 attached to a body member 30 in such a way that the longitudinal centerline of body member 30 is roughly perpendicular to the longitudinal centerline of blade 12. Planar extension 28 defines a hole 32 therein so that the user can wrap his fingers all the way around body member 30 and thereby tightly grasp the handle 26. As shown in FIG. 1, body member 30 is shaped roughly in the form of a rectangular block whose outside surface, that is the surface opposite blade 12, bowes out somewhat in the midsection of the block. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 2, the edges of the rectangular block are slightly rounded. For these reasons body member 30 is shaped in accordance with the natural curve of the hand and thus fits smoothly into the user's palm. This avoids undue pressure points from arising when the inventive sportsmans saw is used so that the users hand will not become calloused and sore.

Attached to one end of body member 30 is a steel insert 34. This steel insert is rigidly mounted on body member 30 and serves to define a hammer face positioned substantially parallel to the centerline of blade 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, the end of body member 30 opposite steel insert 34 is provided with a removable screw plug 36. Body member 30 is hollow, and accordingly screw plug 36, steel plug 34 and body member 30 form a waterproof container, which can be opened and closed by unscrewing and screwing screw plug 36 in a conventional manner.

The inventive sportsmans saw described in this specification is preferably housed in a scabbard. Referring to FIG. 3, the inventive sportsmans saw is shown in association with a scabbard 38. Scabbard 38 is formed preferably from leather or other suitable material and is preferably provided with rivets 40 securing the various portions of the scabbard together at points of stress. The scabbard 38 is made long enough to completely house saw blade 12. In addition, the scabbard 38 is provided with a strap 42 fixed in place with a snap 44 for keeping the inventive sportsmans saw 10 in the scabbard 38 unless intentionally removed. The scabbard can be provided on its backside with a suitable slotted belt loop (not shown) so that it can be easily carried on the belt of the user.

In order to use the inventive sportsmans saw as a cutting implement, it need only be removed from the scab bard 38 and handled like an ordinary saw. Thus, when used as a saw, handle 26 is grasped in much the same way the conventional handle of a conventional saw is grasped. with fine saw edge 14 or coarse edge 16 being brought to bear on the material to be sawed. In a similar manner, the inventive sportsmans saw can be used for cutting by simply grasping the handle 26 in the same way and bringing cutting edge 22 to bear on the material to be cut.

In order to use the inventive sportsman's saw as a hammer, blade 12 of the saw 10 is grasped, preferably after wrapping it with a handkerchief or other suitable padding material, and the sportsman's saw swung so that hammerface 34 impinges on the object to be struck. Preferably, however, the sportsmans saw 10 is maintained in the scabbard 38 so that the scabbard serves to protect the users hand as saw blade 12 is grasped. When the scabbard is used in this manner, strap 42 in association with snap 44 prevents the saw from moving out of the scabbard during the swinging of the scabbard/saw combination.

The unique sportsmans saw disclosed in this specification has many advantages. Because it can be used as a coarse saw, a fine saw, a knife, a hammer, and a container, it enables the sportsman, such as a hunter or a camper, to take only one implement with him as opposed to five separate implements. This, of course, makes the weight of the load the sportsman mustcarry as he travels through remote areas much lighter than if he carried individual implements.

In addition, the unique sportsmans saw, because of the way in which the blade is designed, greatly facilitates dressing and skinning of animals killed in the field. In this regard, it is usually necessary when dressing a recently killed animal to stick the animal (slit its throat), skin the animal, and quarter the animal by cutting through bones, flesh, and cartilage. Conventionally, this is accomplished with the aid ofa pointed knife for sticking and cutting through the flesh of the animal, a separate skinning knife for skinning the animal, and a meat saw for cutting through the bones and cartilage of the animal. With the inventive sportsmans saw, sticking, skinning, and quartering can be accomplished all with finesaw edge 14 including cutting edge 22. For this reason, the user of the inventive sportsmans saw need not repeatedly put down and pick up new implements during the dressing process which would otherwise be necessary if normal dressing implements were imployed.

Finally, it should be appreciated that a significant feature of the present invention is that both the cutting edge 22 and the fine saw edge 14 are located on a single edge of saw blade 12. As appreciated by those skilled in the art, knives adapted for skinning animals are usually curved in a certain shape to facilitate the skinning operation. In the inventive sportsmans saw, cutting edge 22 has just the right shape and just the right length to operate in substantially the same manner as a conventional skinning knife. Nevertheless, cutting edge 22 (as shown in FIG. 1) located at the tip of the saw blade 12 is still short enough not to interfere with the sawing capability of fine tooth saw edge 14. For this reason, the fine saw edge 14, including cutting edge 22, can be used to carry out all the necessary cutting and sawing operations during the dressing and quartering process, no other cutting edge being necessary. This greatly facilitates dressing and quartering since the user of the inventive sportsmans saw can keep essentially the same grip and hold on the saw during cutting, sawing, and skinning. Moreover, because all of the dressing and quartering operations can be accomplished by one edge of blade 12, the other edge can be used for carrying coarse saw teeth, as is the case with the inventive sportsmans saw.

Although only a few specific embodiments of the present invention have been shown above, it should be understood that many modifications can be made. For example, the number and size of the saw teeth on each edge ofthe saw blade 12 can be varied at will. Also, the cutting edge 22 can be lengthened or shortened if desired, although it should be kept substantially in the configuration shown in the figures if it is to be used for skinning purposes. Also, the specific configuration of handle 22 can be varied somewhat so long as the user can still grip and move it and blade 12 in the same manner as conventional saws are gripped and moved. Also,

it should be appreciated that body member 30 need not be made hollow if the device is not intended to be used as a container.

The foregoing description has been presented for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the invention in any way. All reasonalbe modifications not specifically set forth are intended to be included within the scope of the invention, which is to be limited only by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A sportsman saw comprising a planar blade defining three cutting edges, a first cutting edge running substantially straight along its entire length and defining a plurality of saw teeth, a second cutting edge running substantially straight along its entire length and defining a plurality of saw teeth different sized than the plurality of saw teeth defined by said first cutting edge, a third cutting edge defining a knife blade, said third cut ting edge being convexly curved and converging with said first cutting edge and said second cutting edge, a handle secured to said blade, said handle comprising a blade holding member and a body member secured to said blade holding member, said body member being positioned substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal center line of said blade, said blade holding member having an aperture therein of sufficient size to receive at least one finger of a hand and said body member having a substantially hollow tubular shape with enclosed ends, which ends define substantially planar surfaces and at least one of said ends is removable.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the side of the body member opposite said blade is bowed out in its midsection.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said body member is in the form of a generally rectangular parallelepiped and said blade holding member is integral with said body member in such a way so that at least one finger ofthe user can extend through said aperture to encircle said body member for grasping same.

4. The device of claim 3 where in said hole is so sized and shaped that two fingers of the user can fit thru said hole and encircle said body member for grasping same.

5. A sportsman saw according to claim 1 wherein said handle is made from metal, and said body member includes a hole therein opening into the interior of said hollow, and further wherein said handle includes a removable plug means for closing said hole.

6. A sportsman saw according to claim 5 wherein said plug means is adapted to be screwed into said hole to form a water-tight seal.

7. A sportsman's tool and scabbard comprising in combination a blade with a first edge and a second edge, said first edge defining a plurality of saw teeth along its entire length, said second edge comprising a first section defining a convexly curved knife blade converging with said first edge and a second section extending along the rest of the length of said second edge and defining a plurality of saw teeth, said second edge saw teeth differing in size from the saw teeth defined by said first edge, a handle hammer member secured to said blade, said handle hammer member including a tubular hollow body with substantially planar end surfaces with said tubular hollow body being perpendicularly positioned with respect to the center line of said blade, and a scabbard adapted to receive and hold said blade and serve as a handle for said hammer member, said scabbard comprising a rear wall member and a front wall member secured to said rear wall member to form a space therebetween suitable to allow said blade to be inserted in said scabbard, and a strap means secured to said rear wall member for removably retaining said blade in said scabbard.

8. A sportsmans saw adapted for sawing firewood, sawing bones, cutting meat and skinning dead animals comprising:

a saw blade having a first edge carrying coarse sawteeth adapted for efficiently sawing wood and a second edge tapering toward said first edge carrying fine sawteeth adapted for sawing bones and cartilage, said second edge defining a sharpened cutting edge extending from the tip of the saw blade at which the first edge and second edge converge a distance of about 1 '7: inches along said second edge; and a handle rigidly attached to said saw blade opposite its tip, said handle including a body member shaped in the form ofa rectangular parallelpiped having rounded edges, said rectangular parallelpiped having a greater perimeter in its mid section than towards its ends, said rectangular parallelpiped positioned with its longitudinal axis substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said saw blade, said body member including at least one substantially flat face positioned substantially parallel to the longitudinal centerline of said saw blade, said flat face serving as a hammerface when said saw blade is held in the hand.

9. The device of claim 8 wherein said body member is hollow, wherein said body member defines a hole opening into its hollow interior, and wherein said handle further includes a plug means for sealing said open- 

1. A sportsman saw comprising a planar blade defining three cutting edges, a first cutting edge running substantially straight along its entire length and defining a plurality of saw teeth, a second cutting edge running substantially straight along its entire length and defining a plurality of saw teeth different sized than the plurality of saw teeth defined by said first cutting edge, a third cutting edge defining a knife blade, said third cutting edge being convexly curved and converging with said first cutting edge and said second cutting edge, a handle secured to said blade, said handle comprising a blade holding member and a body member secured to said blade holding member, said body member being positioned substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal center line of said blade, said blade holding member having an aperture therein of sufficient size to receive at least one finger of a hand and said body member having a substantially hollow tubular shape with enclosed ends, which ends define substantially planar surfaces and at least one of said ends is removable.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein the side of the body member opposite said blade is bowed out in its midsection.
 3. The device of claim 1 wherein said body member is in the form of a generally rectangular parallelepiped and said blade holding member is integral with said body member in such a way so that at least one finger of the user can extend through said aperture to encircle said body member for grasping same.
 4. The device of claim 3 where in said hole is so sized and shaped that two fingers of the user can fit thru said hole and encircle said body member for grasping same.
 5. A sportsman saw according to claim 1 wherein said handle is made from metal, and said body member includes a hole therein opening into the interior of said hollow, and further wherein said handle includes a removable plug means for closing said hole.
 6. A sportsman saw according to claim 5 wherein said plug means is adapted to be screwed into said hole to form a water-tight seal.
 7. A sportsman''s tool and scabbard comprising in combination a blade with a first edge and a second edge, said first edge defining a plurality of saw teeth along its entire length, said second edge comprising a first section defining a convexly curved knife blade converging with said first edge and a second section extending along the rest of the length of said second edge and defining a plurality of saw teeth, said second edge saw teeth differing in size from the saw teeth defined by said first edge, a handle hammer member secured to said blade, said handle hammer member including a tubular hollow body with substantially planar end surfaces with said tubular hollow body being perpendicularly positioned with respect to the center line of said blade, and a scabbard adapted to receive and hold said blade and serve as a handle for said hammer member, said scabbard comprising a rear wall member and a front wall member secured to said rear wall member to form a space therebetween suitable to allow said blade to be inserted in said scabbard, and a strap means secured to said rear wall member for removably retaining said blade in said scabbard.
 8. A sportsman''s saw adapted for sawing firewood, sawing bones, cutting meat and skinning dead animals comprising: a saw blade having a first edge carrying coarse sawteeth adapted for efficiently sawing wood and a second edge tapering toward said first edge carrying fine sawteeth adapted for sawing bones and cartilage, said second edge defining a sharpened cutting edge extending from the tip of the saw blade at which the first edge and second edge converge a distance of about 1 1/2 inches along said second edge; and a handle rigidly attached to said saw blade opposite its tip, said handle including a body member shaped in the form of a rectangular parallelpiped having rounded edges, said rectangular parallelpiped having a greater perimeter in its midsection than towards its ends, said rectangular parallelpiped positioned with its longitudinal axis substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said saw blade, said body member including at least one substantially flat face positioned substantially parallel to the longitudinal centerline of said saw blade, said flat face serving as a hammerface when said saw blade is held in the hand.
 9. The device of claim 8 wherein said body member is hollow, wherein said body member defines a hole opening into its hollow interior, and wherein said handle further includes a plug means for sealing said opening. 